Book Review: Perspectives on Swedish Immigration edited by Nils Hasselmo

REVIEWS
Nils Hasselmo, ed. PERSPECTIVES O N S W E D I S H I M M I G R A T I O N . Chi­cago:
Swedish Pioneer Historical Society and the University of Minnesota-
Duluth, 1978. 349 pp.
Studies of Swedish immigration have revived within the last two decades
as American and Swedish scholars explore its multi-faceted aspects. Con­ferences
at the University of Minnesota-Duluth on Finnish and Norwegian
immigration, and one on the Swedes in 1976, have added something with
historians from overseas joining their American colleagues. The twenty-one
contributors and an editor include six from Sweden: Ulf Beijbom, Sten
Carlsson, Sune Åkerman, Hans Norman, Ann-Sofie Kälvemark, and Lars-
Göran Tedebrand. They represent the American section of the Historical
Institution (Department) in Uppsala which has delved into Swedish emi­gration
and migration for some sixteen years. The unique feature of their
work is depth, either in exploring single-faceted subjects or in quantative
and theoretical studies, but there is also the return to a topic which has
seen fifty years of neglect in Sweden. In this volume are some examples
of their work: internal migration, official policy toward emigration, remi¬
gration to Sweden, and the Swedes in the Midwest.
But the other papers range widely from reasons for emigration, Swedes
in Duluth, and politics, to Vilhelm Moberg's predecessors, newspapers, and
literature. Ulf Beijbom tells of the Emigrant Institute at Växjö and its
contributions to preservation and research, H. Arnold Barton of the his­torians,
organizations, and publication. Some "senior" scholars also appear:
Nils William Olsson on early Swedish immigrants in the Midwest, Wesley
Westerberg on religious and lay organizations, and Franklin Scott with his
summary. The latter is just that: the field and its individual contributors,
the quantitative measure as a new element, and the adjustment process.
This is "rich fare," so Scott says, that concerns the state of "Swedism"
( s v e n s k h e t ) in America and the preservation of an ethnic culture for
future generations.
What is the value of these conference papers? They reveal subjects not
previously studied in depth: the returning immigrant, the social aspects
of family, marriage and language, the Swedish immigrant literature (first
exposed by Dorothy Burton Skårdal in her Oslo University thesis), news­papers,
and Vilhelm Moberg's antecedents in both America and Sweden.
Another feature is the use of theory and quantitative methods which Sune
Åkerman and his associates from Uppsala employ so ably in both emi­gration
and migration studies. This methodology is quite new to American
immigration historians and should, if followed, uncover aspects within
the ethnic community. Were immigrants, for example, more prone to move
than other ethnic groups or the native Americans? Or were they relative­ly
stable after their long journey? What kinds of associations did they
make and how effectively? Too many questions come to mind to note here,
215
but future historians cannot ignore them. Scott was correct in noting the
"rich fare," for the historian interested in the Midwest, immigration and
emigration, historical theory, and inter-disciplinary studies, and the Swedes
in America will be well rewarded. The reader must be conscious, however,
of the lack of relatedness and the shallow nature of some papers, for the
subject is too vast to plumb in a single book, an article, or a conference.
But thanks are due to the editor and contributors, the supporters of the
conference, and the inspiration that brought it about.
RAYMOND E. LINDGREN
California State U n i v e r s i t y , L o n g B e a ch
TO Beijbom. SLÄKT- O C H H E M B Y G D F O R S K N I N G . Stockholm: Natur
och Kultur, 1978. 160 pp.
The genealogy craze has produced a whole shelf of "how" books on
tracing family history. Most of these, except for specimen charts and i n ­formation
on American sources, are of limited help to descendants of Swed­ish
immigrants. In the early sixties the Swedish foreign office put out a
pamphlet entitled "Tracing Your Swedish Ancestry" that has served a useful
purpose in telling the amateur genealogist where to begin, but a booklet
of thirty-two pages, although revised in 1974, can hardly meet the new
demand.
A more extensive genealogical aid, but not as well known, is Carl-Erik
Johansson's C r a d l e d i n S w e d e n , A P r a c t i c a l H e l p t o G e n e a l o g i c a l R e s e a r ch
in S w e d i s h R e c o r d s (Everton Publishers, Inc., Logan, Utah, 1972). Although
written primarily for those working with the microfilms of Swedish church
records at the Mormon archives in Salt Lake City, it is a comprehensive
handbook of special value to one who does not know Swedish well enough
to pursue family research without assistance. The book begins, in fact, with
the Swedish language, spelling changes over the years, unusual terms and
abbreviations encountered in the records, and reproductions of older styles
of handwriting. It explains the jurisdictional boundaries, gives names of
parishes both before and after the reform of 1952, and describes many
records kept by religious and secular agencies in a country that is con­sidered
the best in the world for the preservation of vital statistics. With
this 200-page book in hand, a person has all the tools he or she will need
to gather a lot of information about Grandpa and Grandma and "our fathers
that begot us." (Both of the above titles can be ordered from the Swedish
Pioneer Historical Society.)
For the Swedish reader a number of good handbooks have appeared,
such as Ella Heckscher's Släktforskning. K o r t h a n d l e d n i n g för amatörer
(1970) and Börje Furtenbach's Släktforskning för alla (1971). Now comes
Släkt- o c h h e m b y g d s f o r s k n i n g by Docent Ulf Beijbom, the head of the
Emigrant Institute in Växjö. Perhaps the staggering number of inquiries
besieging him at the Institute for help in locating Grandpa's birthplace
has caused Beijbom to write this book in self-defense. He seizes the op­portunity,
however, to delve more deeply than do the how-to books and to
place family research within the context of emigration and local history
research ( h e m b y g d s f o r s k n i n g ).
218

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REVIEWS
Nils Hasselmo, ed. PERSPECTIVES O N S W E D I S H I M M I G R A T I O N . Chi­cago:
Swedish Pioneer Historical Society and the University of Minnesota-
Duluth, 1978. 349 pp.
Studies of Swedish immigration have revived within the last two decades
as American and Swedish scholars explore its multi-faceted aspects. Con­ferences
at the University of Minnesota-Duluth on Finnish and Norwegian
immigration, and one on the Swedes in 1976, have added something with
historians from overseas joining their American colleagues. The twenty-one
contributors and an editor include six from Sweden: Ulf Beijbom, Sten
Carlsson, Sune Åkerman, Hans Norman, Ann-Sofie Kälvemark, and Lars-
Göran Tedebrand. They represent the American section of the Historical
Institution (Department) in Uppsala which has delved into Swedish emi­gration
and migration for some sixteen years. The unique feature of their
work is depth, either in exploring single-faceted subjects or in quantative
and theoretical studies, but there is also the return to a topic which has
seen fifty years of neglect in Sweden. In this volume are some examples
of their work: internal migration, official policy toward emigration, remi¬
gration to Sweden, and the Swedes in the Midwest.
But the other papers range widely from reasons for emigration, Swedes
in Duluth, and politics, to Vilhelm Moberg's predecessors, newspapers, and
literature. Ulf Beijbom tells of the Emigrant Institute at Växjö and its
contributions to preservation and research, H. Arnold Barton of the his­torians,
organizations, and publication. Some "senior" scholars also appear:
Nils William Olsson on early Swedish immigrants in the Midwest, Wesley
Westerberg on religious and lay organizations, and Franklin Scott with his
summary. The latter is just that: the field and its individual contributors,
the quantitative measure as a new element, and the adjustment process.
This is "rich fare," so Scott says, that concerns the state of "Swedism"
( s v e n s k h e t ) in America and the preservation of an ethnic culture for
future generations.
What is the value of these conference papers? They reveal subjects not
previously studied in depth: the returning immigrant, the social aspects
of family, marriage and language, the Swedish immigrant literature (first
exposed by Dorothy Burton Skårdal in her Oslo University thesis), news­papers,
and Vilhelm Moberg's antecedents in both America and Sweden.
Another feature is the use of theory and quantitative methods which Sune
Åkerman and his associates from Uppsala employ so ably in both emi­gration
and migration studies. This methodology is quite new to American
immigration historians and should, if followed, uncover aspects within
the ethnic community. Were immigrants, for example, more prone to move
than other ethnic groups or the native Americans? Or were they relative­ly
stable after their long journey? What kinds of associations did they
make and how effectively? Too many questions come to mind to note here,
215
but future historians cannot ignore them. Scott was correct in noting the
"rich fare," for the historian interested in the Midwest, immigration and
emigration, historical theory, and inter-disciplinary studies, and the Swedes
in America will be well rewarded. The reader must be conscious, however,
of the lack of relatedness and the shallow nature of some papers, for the
subject is too vast to plumb in a single book, an article, or a conference.
But thanks are due to the editor and contributors, the supporters of the
conference, and the inspiration that brought it about.
RAYMOND E. LINDGREN
California State U n i v e r s i t y , L o n g B e a ch
TO Beijbom. SLÄKT- O C H H E M B Y G D F O R S K N I N G . Stockholm: Natur
och Kultur, 1978. 160 pp.
The genealogy craze has produced a whole shelf of "how" books on
tracing family history. Most of these, except for specimen charts and i n ­formation
on American sources, are of limited help to descendants of Swed­ish
immigrants. In the early sixties the Swedish foreign office put out a
pamphlet entitled "Tracing Your Swedish Ancestry" that has served a useful
purpose in telling the amateur genealogist where to begin, but a booklet
of thirty-two pages, although revised in 1974, can hardly meet the new
demand.
A more extensive genealogical aid, but not as well known, is Carl-Erik
Johansson's C r a d l e d i n S w e d e n , A P r a c t i c a l H e l p t o G e n e a l o g i c a l R e s e a r ch
in S w e d i s h R e c o r d s (Everton Publishers, Inc., Logan, Utah, 1972). Although
written primarily for those working with the microfilms of Swedish church
records at the Mormon archives in Salt Lake City, it is a comprehensive
handbook of special value to one who does not know Swedish well enough
to pursue family research without assistance. The book begins, in fact, with
the Swedish language, spelling changes over the years, unusual terms and
abbreviations encountered in the records, and reproductions of older styles
of handwriting. It explains the jurisdictional boundaries, gives names of
parishes both before and after the reform of 1952, and describes many
records kept by religious and secular agencies in a country that is con­sidered
the best in the world for the preservation of vital statistics. With
this 200-page book in hand, a person has all the tools he or she will need
to gather a lot of information about Grandpa and Grandma and "our fathers
that begot us." (Both of the above titles can be ordered from the Swedish
Pioneer Historical Society.)
For the Swedish reader a number of good handbooks have appeared,
such as Ella Heckscher's Släktforskning. K o r t h a n d l e d n i n g för amatörer
(1970) and Börje Furtenbach's Släktforskning för alla (1971). Now comes
Släkt- o c h h e m b y g d s f o r s k n i n g by Docent Ulf Beijbom, the head of the
Emigrant Institute in Växjö. Perhaps the staggering number of inquiries
besieging him at the Institute for help in locating Grandpa's birthplace
has caused Beijbom to write this book in self-defense. He seizes the op­portunity,
however, to delve more deeply than do the how-to books and to
place family research within the context of emigration and local history
research ( h e m b y g d s f o r s k n i n g ).
218